Adopted By The Avengers

chapter 4

half an hour later I'm sitting at a place that has shawarma. I still don't know exactly what it is but Steve says it's great. Bruce also came along. Steve ordered for me because I had no clue what anything was. It was really good, so flavorful and amazing. But it was getting later so we went back to the tower to continue painting my room. Finally, we had finished by 8:00 and I was very tired. I skipped dinner because I was still so full from lunch.

I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and change. I also wanted to check on how my back was looking. It was blue and bruised and the marks from the other night were still red and bumped up. She had hit me hard and it didn't look like it would be getting better anytime soon. I threw on a loose t-shirt I found and some pajama pants before sneaking out my door and into the elevator. I pressed the button for the medical floor. The elevator door opened and I walked quietly out of it. There was a lady with black hair standing behind a small desk. I walked up to her. she looked at me surprised "Hello miss, are you lost?" She asked me. I shook my head and was about to respond when Steve came walking out from a backroom. Oh no, I've been caught. "Hey Everleigh! what are you doing here?" He asked me. "What are you doing here?" I asked him back. "Oh, I have been having a problem with my knee, nothing to worry about though." I nodded. "Thanks again Danielle," He said to the women. Then he walked to the elevator. "You coming Everleigh?" He asked me. "I'll be right up! I was just meeting miss Danielle here!" I lied quickly. He gave me yet another strange look before saying "All right, Hurry up though, I thought maybe we could watch a movie." The elevator closed and I turned back to Danielle once I heard the elevator move. "Hi ma'am, I was wondering, do you have any cut ointment? I'm very clumsy and thought it would be nice to have." She smiles at me. "Of course, hold on one second." She walks into a back room and comes back with a tube of medicine. I thank her and leave quickly. I stop on my floor to put the medicine on my back. I stand in the bathroom mirror and flinch as I put the medicine on my back. Then I put the tube in a drawer and head up to the penthouse. Steve is sitting on the couch talking quietly with tony. They didn't seem to hear the ding of the elevator. "I'm telling you, Tony, somethings up with her." Tony doesn't even glance up from his tablet "She's probably just trying to get used to this new space. don't worry about it" tony says nonchalantly. My heart sinks. Steve thinks there is something wrong with me. But I push the thought out of my mind and I step into the room. "Hi!" I say. Steve turns to look at me. "Oh! Hi," he says smiling. He asks what movie I want to watch. I tell him I didn't get to watch movies. He picks out a Disney movie and Tony stands up. "yeah I'm not sticking around to watch princesses and singing animals" and he walks into the elevator. Steve rolls his eyes. He turns on Tangled and turns off the lights. "want anything to drink?" He asks me. I ask for some water and he quickly comes back with a small glass for me. Then he told J.A.R.V.I.S to let everyone know we were watching a movie. Natasha and Bruce both came up to watch with us. It was a really good movie! But about halfway through I started to drift to sleep. I was almost asleep when I a horrible sensation in my back. I let out a yelp and sat up quickly. Steve paused the movie "what was that?!" He asked me. I touched my back in pain. I realized he had tried to rub my back. When I didn't answer he asked me again. I couldn't speak it hurt so bad, I tried to hold back tears as I stood up. "Everleigh?" He said looking worried. Then He picked me up and brought me into the elevator. He took me down to the medical area. Danielle had been replaced by another woman with blonde hair. "There's something wrong with Everleigh's back, I need you to look at her," He said. The women nodded and led me back into an exam room, Steve stayed in the main area. "Do you have any idea what could be wrong?" She asked me kindly. I nodded and lifted the back of my shirt. She gasped and dropped the clipboard she was holding. "Hold on, it's gonna be okay, I just need to call the doctor up." She said, it almost sounded as though she was trying to reassure herself more than me.

A minute or two later a doctor showed up in the room. after looking at my back for what seemed like forever he put some crazy medicine on my back. It burned almost as bad as when I first got them. then He made my whole family come into telling them about my back. It was very awkward as the doctor explain what it looked like and I watched as some were upset and some looked angry, I'm not sure if it was at miss underwood or me for not telling them. The doctor then turned to me. "Everleigh, would you mind explaining what happened?" All eyes turned to me. I took a deep breath. "This has been happening for years," I explain. "Whenever I did something wrong, whenever I inconvenienced anyone. It didn't matter what it was, Miss Underwood just looked for an excuse to hit me. It got really bad when I started getting older. she stopped hitting me with her hands and began hitting me with a belt, a metal baseball bat. Anything that would leave a bigger mark." They stared at me with sympathy in their eyes. "This happened before you guys visited. She was angry that another girl and I were late and she let the other girl go but hit me on the back. This was the worst it had ever been. Then after you guys visited and wanted me she hit me with the metal one on my stomach, but since I knew I was leaving I tried to fight back. I ran out before she could do worse and I grabbed my stuff and ran out." I felt tears in my eyes. I hated thinking about when I was younger, I mean who could hurt a kid like that. I couldn't even escape her in my dreams. Everywhere I went she was there too. Steve told me he was sorry and talked to the doctor. then I left, no one followed. Which I was glad for, I didn't need them to feel sorry for me.

A/N Hi! I added a lot more to this chapter then what was originally thee. also for previous readers, I took out that she liked gymnastics. I only added it because I loved it at the time. Finally after 6 months i'm back to re writing and editing chapters. I love you all!

- Sydney Elizabeth

Originally written: June 30th 2017

Re-written: February 15th 2021